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Vivo X Fold 5 Review: A premium rival to Samsung’s foldables
Vivo X Fold 5 is one of the best foldables you can buy today. Yet, it’s not flawless. Here’s our in-depth review.
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The foldable smartphone market has come a long way in just a few short years. What was once a futuristic novelty is now a competitive space, with brands like Samsung, Huawei and Oppo vying to define the standard. Vivo, though a relatively fresh face in this category, has steadily built its reputation for polished hardware and bold design. The Vivo X Fold 5, launched in India at ₹1,49,999, is the brand’s most ambitious attempt yet, a device that combines powerful performance, premium displays and durable engineering.
After testing it for several weeks, from streaming films to juggling apps, taking photographs and even playing demanding titles like Genshin Impact, it’s clear the X Fold 5 is one of the best foldables you can buy today. Yet, it’s not flawless. Here’s our in-depth review.
Vivo X Fold 5 Review: Design and Build Quality
At 217 grams, the Vivo X Fold 5 is surprisingly light for a foldable of its size. Folded, it measures around 9.2 mm thick, slimmer than many rivals, while unfolded it’s just 4.3 mm. This makes it feel more like a regular flagship when in the hand, rather than a chunky compromise. The hinge mechanism deserves particular praise. Vivo claims the hinge has been tested for 600,000 folds, which translates to years of daily use.
The hinge movement is smooth yet firm, allowing the display to hold steady at different angles, ideal for propping it on a desk for video calls or watching content hands-free. The IPX8 water resistance and IP5X dust protection are reassuring too, bringing it close to Samsung’s durability standards.
Where Vivo truly excels is aesthetics. The device looks premium, with refined curves and clean lines, avoiding the overly industrial design some foldables suffer from.
Vivo X Fold 5 Review: Display
The real showpiece of any foldable is its display, and the Vivo X Fold 5 impresses on both counts.
The outer display is a 6.53-inch AMOLED panel with a 120 Hz refresh rate. It’s large enough for most tasks, messaging, browsing, even gaming, meaning you don’t always need to unfold the device.
Open it up, and you’re greeted by an expansive 8.03-inch AMOLED LTPO inner display, also running at 120 Hz. Colours are rich and vibrant, blacks are deep, and brightness is extraordinary, reaching up to 4,500 nits peak in certain conditions. HDR content on Netflix and YouTube looks stunning, rivaling premium tablets.
The crease in the middle is still visible at certain angles, but it’s less pronounced than on early foldables and fades quickly into the background during everyday use.
Vivo X Fold 5 Review: Performance and Software
Under the hood, the X Fold 5 runs the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset paired with up to 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage. Performance is every bit flagship-grade. Apps launch instantly, multitasking feels effortless, and graphically heavy games like Asphalt 9 and Genshin Impact run smoothly at high settings without overheating.
Vivo’s software layer, FuntouchOS (based on Android 15), takes good advantage of the foldable form factor. Split-screen multitasking works seamlessly, drag-and-drop between apps feels natural, and the UI scales gracefully whether on the cover screen or the large inner display.
There are still some quirks, particularly with third-party apps not fully optimised for the large inner screen, but this is more a problem of the Android ecosystem than Vivo alone.
Vivo X Fold 5 Review: Cameras
The triple 50 MP rear camera system is one of the stronger setups we’ve seen on a foldable. The primary sensor captures excellent detail and dynamic range, even in challenging light. The ultra-wide is crisp with minimal distortion, and the telephoto adds versatility without falling into gimmick territory.
Low-light performance is solid, thanks to Vivo’s image processing, though Samsung’s flagship foldables still hold a slight edge in computational photography.
The dual 20 MP front cameras, one on each display, are practical for video calls and selfies, no matter which screen you’re using. Video recording tops out at 8K, though 4K remains the sweet spot for most scenarios.
Vivo X Fold 5 Review: Battery Life and Charging
One of the headline features of the Vivo X Fold 5 is its 6,000 mAh dual-cell battery. In practice, this translates to a full day and a half of heavy use, impressive given the demands of two large 120 Hz displays.
When you do run low, 80W wired charging tops up the phone astonishingly fast, going from 0 to 100% in under 40 minutes. The addition of 40W wireless charging is equally welcome, matching or exceeding what most foldables currently offer.
Battery anxiety, often a problem with foldables, is simply not an issue here.
Vivo X Fold 5 Review: Where It Falls Short
For all its strengths, the Vivo X Fold 5 isn’t perfect.
First, the price: at ₹1,49,999, it is more expensive than some rival foldables and costs as much as the newly launched Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max. This positions it firmly as a luxury product rather than a mainstream device.
Second, while software has improved, Vivo’s foldable ecosystem still trails Samsung’s. Apps like Gmail and Spotify occasionally feel stretched or awkward on the inner display, breaking immersion.
Finally, while the camera system is excellent, it doesn’t quite hit the very top tier of mobile photography, an area where Vivo’s own X-series slab phones sometimes perform better.
Vivo X Fold 5 Review: Verdict
The Vivo X Fold 5 is a superb foldable, stylish, powerful, and surprisingly durable. Its expansive displays, long-lasting battery, and reliable hinge mechanism set a high bar. The cameras are versatile, performance is top-notch, and the charging speeds are class-leading.
Yes, it’s expensive. Yes, there are still software quirks. And yes, the crease hasn’t magically disappeared. But as a statement of intent, Vivo has delivered a foldable that can go toe-to-toe with Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold series, and in some ways, even surpass it. If you want a foldable that blends premium craftsmanship with everyday practicality, and you’re willing to pay the price, the Vivo X Fold 5 is one of the best options in 2025.
